Amy's hair

This is my first attempt at doing something to Amy's hair.
It didn't quite work.

The second try was better.

I was looking for little rubber bands, but Target was out, so I got the clips. Her hair in front is so long it gets in her eyes. It's pretty short in the back because it gets rubbed off. Amy also has ear hair. I'm not talking about old man ear hair - growing out of the ears. I'm talking about the hair that is on the back of her ear lobe. We all have hair there but hers is about an inch long. Is that normal? I tried to get a picture of it, but she kept trying to look at the camera.


Amy is also getting stronger stomach and back muscles. She can support herself sitting up with her arms. I wouldn't consider that sitting up by her self, but she's getting closer.

Encyclopedia of Me - B

B is for...

BYU

some of the beautiful campus

At the 1996 WAC championship game
wow that dates me!

I have fond memories of BYU. I should since I spent 8 years in Provo. Four of them were for my education. I had awesome roommates most of the time. I took fabulous classes, enjoyed the social scene, attended sporting events, and loved the devotionals. I have memories of road trips, dances, dinners, dates, concerts, classes, study sessions, the testing center, hiking the "Y", all night parties, hikes, snow, working at the MTC, and so much more. It's where I met and married Aaron, and had my first baby. I was glad we got to go back and visit this summer. And we'll be back again in the future.

baking

I would say baking is a big part of my life. I don't know when I started, but I know I was making cookies on my own by the time I was 10. I love to bake and I think I'm pretty good at it. I'm no pastry chef, but I'm trying new things all the time. Check out some of the recipes I use here.

B is also for

boys (I have two of them)
brothers (I've got 2 of them also)
basketball
bath and body works
blueberries
blackberries

expecting another cousin

I am so excited! I was given permission to let people know that my sister Sara is expecting her first baby! Yay for Sara and TJ! She is due at the end of July, maybe early August. Hopefully she'll get over the nausea soon! I can't wait to welcome another nice or nephew!

25 Random Things

I did this on Facebook, and thought my non-Facebook readers might enjoy it.
It's just 25 random things, facts, memories, goals, ideas etc. I was supposed to tag 25 people - but I just say -do it if you want to.

1. I love to cook, especially baking.
2. I love to watch sports, but I'm not really good at any of them.
3. Aaron and I met in January of 1999, started dating in the middle of April, got engaged June 1st, and married July 31st. We've been married for 9 1/2 years now, and are more in love than ever. We now have 3 kids.
4. My kids have 17 cousins, and that's with only HALF of our siblings starting their families.
5. I've only been admitted to the hospital for normal labor and delivery.
6. I've never broken a bone.
7. I was once a member of the BSA (that's the Boy Scouts of America)
8. I could live without a dishwasher, but not without a microwave. I don't mind washing dishes, I hate cleaning the bathroom.
9. With 3 three kids, I only threw up once while pregnant. (don't hate me)
10. I want to travel someday - specifically to Italy and Hawaii.
11. I have only visited 12 of the 50 states (layovers in airports don't count), and only left the country once - Canada, for a day, last month.
12. I love camping and the mountains!
13. I love the numbers 4, 7, 13 and 28. Just because.
14. I love making lists. I just wish I'd follow through with all of them.
15. I have very few foods I dislike - tapioca pudding, and asparagus among them.
16. I spend too much time on the computer,
17. I love to play games, card games, board games, word puzzles, number puzzles.
18. I don't know how to do hair. Mine has essentially been the same since high school. I can do pony tails and braids - I hope Amy will forgive me.
19. I have no decorating or fashion sense.
20. I hate shopping. I only go if I have something specific I am looking for. I can't spend more than 20 minutes looking for a bargain, I get bored, or my kids get bored.
21. I love music. I wish I had continued with piano lessons - I quit when after only 3 years. I plan to take lessons again someday.
22. I've thought about many different careers, but never really wanted to have a career. I've always wanted to be a mom.
23. I love to dance
24. I have big babies - 8 lbs 7 oz, 9lbs 1 oz and 10 lbs 0.6 oz
25. I love to read

Now it's your turn.

Random Thoughts

This is what happens when I try to take a picture of Amy.

She gets the "deer in the headlights" look

That's a little better.

I tried to get pictures of Timothy, but he kept hiding.

I lost Timothy in Target today. I was looking at clothes and he took off. I saw him in the kitchen aisle so I went after him. Next thing I know he is racing down the back aisle toward the sporting goods. So I go back to the main aisle and try to cut him off. He's not there. How did he get past me? As I am searching a Target employee asks if I need help finding something. I calmly said, "Yes, my son." They got a description - " Four years old, wearing a red jacket and blue jeans." The guy radioed another employee, and I heard, "Yes, I'm chasing him through the grocery aisle and back toward the toys." I had to laugh. So we finally cornered him. I asked him why he was running away. "I was trying to think of where else I could go." I'm still laughing about it.

Timothy still says the funniest things. Yesterday he was trying to sound out a word. He got frustrated and said. "I can't read." "That's why we go to preschool. You can learn to read." I answered. Later that day (after preschool) he suddenly said and a disappointed voice, "Oh, I didn't learn how to read. I went to preschool and I still don't know how to read."

Yesterday I couldn't get google to work because "the security certificate had expired." But it doesn't expire until May, we later found out Aaron accidentally changed the date on the computer. He fixed it, and now everything's just fine.

Amy loves to play in her booster seat. She is rolling all over the place. If she doesn't have something to entertain her while she is on her back, she'll roll onto her tummy. She tends to push herself backward, and eventually is too far away from her toys.

David loves to help with Amy, especially when I don't want him to. He wants to pick her up and carry her around. I'm a little paranoid he's going to hurt her. He hasn't come close to dropping her, yet. But we've established a rule that he can pick her up if he asks first and either Aaron or I are in the room to observe. Hopefully that will help.

somewhat busy weekend

Saturday Aaron got home around 7:45 am or so, and promptly went to sleep. We had an uneventful morning. Mostly playing and watching Wall-E. They can't get enough of that movie. David was insisting that he had a birthday party that day, but we hadn't received an invitation. I know her mom - Lisa, so I was going to call her and verify 1) if there was a party that day and 2) if David was invited. I didn't have to call her, because she called me at about 9:30 to tell me that David was invited. Sophie wanted to invite ALL of her friends, but there wasn't enough room, so they had to cut the list down. Several people hadn't RSVPed, so Lisa called them, and some couldn't come, so she invited more people. She couldn't remember whether she had invited David or not on the second round, so she called. David was so glad he got to go. As I was talking to Lisa, I was glad she realized how funny it sounded when she said, "we'll be serving snacks - it's all organic- then having cake and ice cream." I guess at least it wasn't all sugar;)

The birthday party was at a yoga studio. David had done some yoga in PE and he was excited. After lunch I got the kids ready, and Timothy didn't want to come, so I was glad that Aaron woke up and I was able to leave Timothy with him. I took Amy with me, so Aaron could get ready. He was planning to go to the temple. I hit traffic on the way back, and Aaron missed the session he wanted to go to. So he went to a later session. I left earlier when I went to pick David up, and I still got there late. We were making pretty good time on the way home, and then the bridge went up, and we hit the exiting basketball traffic. Oh well, at least Amy didn't wake up until we were 1 minute away from home.

After rooms were clean I let them watch another movie - hey they don't usually watch anything during the week. And Peter Pan is pretty short. I made dinner and Aaron got home just in time. He had gone to a few stores, and found this on clearance:

The booster seat, not the baby

It makes meal times so much better. Amy really wants to be up with us, and the bouncy seat is too far away apparently. She can't sit up on her own yet, but this chair (and a rolled up blanket) supports her, and she loves to play with her toys and babble while we eat. She even sat there for 10 extra minutes while I clean up after breakfast this morning.

Speaking of breakfast, Timothy has been praying for it to snow for the last couple of weeks, literally, even for meal time prayers. This morning as we sat down to breakfast I opened the blinds and remarked that it was snowing. The kids were so excited. Of course, I can handle this kind of snow. It didn't stick, and it was about 35 degrees F all day long.

We have church at 1:00 pm now, which is good in some ways, but not in others. I don't feel like I'm rushing out the door. I can make a good breakfast like this one. And it's late enough to eat a good lunch before we go. On the other hand, the day is pretty much over when you get back. You don't have time to make a nice dinner - unless you've thought ahead and put dinner in the slow cooker- we'll be doing that a lot this year. I don't have time to make rolls, unless I do it ahead of time, but they are so much better fresh out of the oven. It's a horrible time if you have a toddler, that naps in the afternoon. Amy's schedule is pretty flexible right now, but later this year it's not going to be so easy.

Church went well today. We had a good dinner when we got home. Aaron went home teaching. I got to talk to my sister Becca on Skype. All in all a good day. Now Amy is throwing a fit and doesn't want to go to sleep. So I'd better go.

cousins

We took some pictures of Evelyn and Amy when we were together on Monday.

week long wrap up

I'll start with Monday. Aaron got the day off, as well as David. So after a quick breakfast, and clean up Aaron took the boys to the Science museum. It's one of their favorite places. There were train displays and the boys got to play with model trains and ride on a little train.

They had fun making music

Playing with the trains

Someone had too much fun putting this Playmobile scene together.

It's looks an awful lot like the Hudson River hmm....

riding the train

David rode in the caboose

I love this picture!

Timothy opted for the "log barrel"

Yes, he's holding a cockroach!

sorry about the sideways video. But I thought you'd enjoy seeing them make some music!




I was able to catch up on the budget, and a few other things. Then we had a BBQ with Nathan and Amy (and Evelyn). I had my first hamburger in a long time!

Tuesday was the inauguration. I did get to watch it, and then take Timothy to preschool. He threw a fit when it was time to come home.

It's been a little cold this week. Foggy too. Wednesday - nothing exciting, same for Thursday. Aaron had a meeting, and I missed my dessert group, but I'll catch it next time.

Today Aaron had a great morning. He went to a symposium in the afternoon, and got paged halfway through it. He's on a Float B call. that means that Float A gets called first, ad then Float B. So there was a slight chance he would get called in. It was a little frustrating to learn that there was no Float A person today, they forgot to schedule someone for that call!!! So Aaron is working in the ER tonight. At least I'm catching up on blogging right? There was a Lunar New Year celebration at David's school tonight. We were planning to attend, but I'm not going without Aaron, especially since I'd have to leave 2 hours before him, and get home after he left. It's a good thing I didn't tell the kids we were going.

And a couple more photos from today:

Julie B. Beck

Last Saturday night I had the opportunity (along with hundreds of others) to hear Sister Julie B. Beck speak. She is the General Relief Society President. 10 local stakes were invited to hear her speak. Aaron was on call, so I got a babysitter for the boys and I took Amy with me. It was a great experience. I got there pretty early, so I could get a seat. I was still in the overflow, but at least I was pretty close. I had some time so I set my stuff down and walked around with Amy.

When I went out in the hall I saw a familiar face. My former neighbor from Wymount! I was so surprised to see Caroline. I knew her husband was from WA, and that they intended to move here at some point, but last I heard they were in CA. Caroline and I caught up a little bit, and then I gave her my phone number. As she entered it in her phone in walked my Stake President with Sister Beck, and her husband. She said hello to both of us and then continued in greeting other sisters as she went.

Her address was wonderful. I won't go into detail. However she talked to us about living the experience. Not to wait for the dream life, because that won't happen just yet. She told us about coming together as a Relief Society and how we have different responsibilities depending on where we are in our lives. It was comforting and uplifting. I'm so glad I went.

Encyclopedia of Me: A

Here is the first installment of the Encyclopedia of Me

A is for:

Aaron

I guess that's pretty obvious, that Aaron is part of who I am. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband. He works hard, and is great at what he does. Aaron is a great father and wishes he could spend more time with the kids. I love that he brings home flowers randomly, never when I'm expecting them. I am looking forward to out 10 year anniversary this summer. I wish I could express exactly how I feel, but I always in awe that I am married to such a smart, loving, thoughtful, gorgeous, happy (I could go on) man; and married to him FOREVER at that!

Amy

Obviously my first little girl is also a big part of my life. She brings such joy. I am still amazed at how well (usually) she sleeps at night. I know I am going to have to adjust to raising a girl. But she is just perfect right now. What else can I say?

A is also for apples, the Astros, atonement and avocados.

Happy birthday Amber

So I missed my SIL's birthday last week. It was on the 13th. Hey - I wished her a happy birthday on her Facebook, but I haven't blogged much this week. Amber is married to Stephen - Aaron's younger brother. She is busy as a mom of 3 little girls. She finds the best deals, and I love that she shares the information with me. Amber is just a sweet person and fun to talk to. So happy belated birthday Amber! How old are you anyway? You still look 21!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday! He has quite a year! He spent way too much time in the hospital, but he also got to do some great things. He had a great time being full-time Grandpa to Hali and Elizabeth (my two adorable nieces). They bring him so much joy Lizzy had to move away in December, but now little Colby is there to join Hali. My dad also got to fly out to VA to attend his niece's wedding. He was there when my sister Sara got married. So despite the medical issues - he has had so much to make him happy. And he chooses to dwell on the positive.
My dad is always quick to tell me how much he loves me. He calls just to talk, and we both love to tell stories. He keeps busy with his family and keeping up with the Sunday School scripture study, as well as other uplifting reading. I love you Dad, I hope you have a wonderful birthday and another fabulous year - although probably with much fewer big events.

finally got it!

she still giggling for the camera

even if she won't roll over for the camera - she still giggles!

not so quick update

this week:

David

• decided he was going to start taking showers. Previously the concept scared him. It started as a joke when he didn't want to take a bath, I told him he could take a shower. I told him he didn't have to put his head under the water until he wanted to. So we tried it. And he liked it. Now he wants to take a shower every morning, and I don't have to "make" him take a bath. I just have to start the water, make sure it's the right temperature, and make sure he washes well. He's doing a great job.
• got another loose tooth
• sang and danced in a school assembly. He knew all the words and sang loud - why can't he do that in primary?

Timothy

• started preschool with Madison and Liam. I should taken pictures. I taught this week. It was fun I was surprised that I had enough art supplies to do the art projects outlined in the curriculum.
• gets funnier all the time.

Amy

• Slept through the night on Tuesday night - woke up at 6:45 am Wednesday morning!
  
• slept until at 5:00 am on Thursday morning, and then slept until 7:00 am
• woke up at 2:00 am this morning and 3 times after that - oh well.
• has rolled over several times since Monday. I have yet to get it on camera.

Aaron

• has had a pretty good week so far
• was at the University Hospital 3 days and the Children's hospital 3 days - today he was at both that's how 3+3=5
• will be on call tomorrow - back on the wards for 1 1/2 days.

I

• Enjoyed a good night's rest Tuesday night, but woke up when Amy was restless at 5:30 am
• finally exercised since I was so well rested - haven't done it since though :(
• loved going to David's assembly
• loved carpooling this week, especially since I was able to see my friends, that I have missed for a month.

So that's our week in a nutshell.

More pictures soon I hope.

rollin'

Amy rolled over for the first time this morning - at 5:00am!!! Let me explain - she has been a great sleeper for the last 3 1/2 months - then all of a sudden the is awake for longer periods during the day - that's not a bad thing. however her naps are about 30 minutes long - frustrating! and now she is waking 3 and 4 times at night. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

Well this morning she woke at 2:30 am I couldn't get her back to sleep, so I fed her. Only to have her wake again at 4:00. I tried to get her back to sleep, but no luck, so I fed her again at 4:30, she did sleep a little bit, but when I tried to put her down - she woke up, and wanted to play. So at 5:00 am this morning I turned on a ,amp, pulled out my scriptures and set her on her tummy with a toy in front of her. Next thing I know she rolled right over on top of my scriptures. I couldn't get her to do it again. She did finally go to sleep at 6:05 am, 15 minutes before Aaron's alarm went off. I fell asleep while Aaron was in the shower and woke up 9 minutes later when his alarm went off again - guess he hit the snooze bar. The funny thing was I was still dreaming and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't turn off his alarm - probably because I was still on the couch.
I waited until about 6:50 am to put her down before I showered, she woke up while I was in the shower. I'm not trying to complain, I'm just documenting the changes in her sleeping pattern.

She also found her toes yesterday and she promptly tried to eat them.


She also attempted to roll over while I was typing this, this time going from her back to her front, but her arm was in the way. That's the first time I've seen her do this - probably because she was diaperless - I was trying to air out her bum, because it was a little red.

my monitor is back

Our monitor on the desktop died a couple of days ago. I tried turning it off and then back on again- to no avail. So I waited for Aaron. He did the same thing - no luck. So we just used our laptop for a couple of days until he had some time this afternoon to look at it. First Aaron tried unplugging it, and plugging it back in again. Guess what that worked. Huh. Well at least it was quick, easy and free!

Aaron is done with the wards. He is on the development service now. So he will be back and forth between the Children's hospital and the University hospital. Each week will focus on a different developmental age (infant, toddler, school-age and teenage). He did have an extra night of call on Friday. the residents here are not allowed to moonlight, however sometimes they will "sell" a call. If someone needs to take off - (interviews, wedding etc.) and can't find someone to switch with them they put it up for sale. The resident that takes the call then gets "book money". This is the first call Aaron has bought, and now he can get some books he's been wanting without having to dig into our budget - yay!

It's been nice not to have to take David to and from school this week. I only drove the van twice this week. And it was kind of fun to have him look out the window to wait for Annie, and for me to look out the window to wait for him. Next week I get to drive. I look forward to that mostly to see my friends that I haven't seen in about a month because of the carpooling and school being canceled.

Timothy enjoys playing Cadoo with David and I, although he can't read most of the words, and needs help acting things out etc. He has picked up on the code cracker - where two or three pictures make up a word. He likes to make up his own as he walks around the house. I wish I could think of one off the top of my head. He does pretty well considering the game is for 7 and up.

After using more of my Christmas gifts I need to add a few more favorites. I love the new griddle we got for ourselves. Our old one was 9 1/2 years old and in pretty bad shape. I could only use about 60% of the surface because the Teflon was coming off. Pancakes and French Toast go so much quicker now! I also love the fuzzy pink socks I got from my sister Becca. And Amy loves the octopus toy that Santa got her. David wants to know how Santa knew she would love it! I know there was something else, but now I can't remember.

I've been thinking about doing the Encyclopedia of Me. I've seen it on other blogs, and I think it might be fun. I go through each letter of the alphabet and talk about things that describe me, or are important to me. With 26 letters in the alphabet I figure with one of those posts every other week it will last through the end of the year. Hopefully I'll keep it up. I'm already compiling lists.

I guess I haven't taken many pictures with David back in school, I don't have any new ones to post. OK I just uploaded the 1 picture on the camera. Aaron took this of Timothy - he fell asleep while he was supposed to be getting his PJ's on. In the morning we teased him about it and he answered, "I fell asleep so I wouldn't get in trouble for not getting my jammies on." How cute is that?!

random weirdness

• our desktop monitor died today. Maybe Aaron can fiddle with it when he gets home. I'm not about to play around with it.
• Amy is already learning rude behaviors from her brothers. Today she was trying talk while she was eating ;)
• I was on the computer when I heard a bump in the kitchen. Timothy was sitting at the table so I told him to be careful. "It wasn't me," he answered. Not believing him I asked, "then who was it?" "The bird." He doesn't usually make things up. "The bird?" I asked. ""yes, he hit the window with his beak, and then flew away." I went out on our balcony and looked down three stories, and there was the poor dead bird on the ground.
• I neglected to mention that we rearranged our room once again. We've had this mold problem, so now everything has to be away from the outside walls. Amy will be moving to a crib sometime soon, which will not fit in our room. It didn't fit in the boys' room either until we removed the dresser and replaced it with a tall dresser. We found one on craigslist for $20. We took the newer one, and gave them our older one, and then tried to give away our side by side dresser. Several people have responded, but no one has confirmed that they will take it. Did I mention we are giving it away - for FREE. With all of the rearranging we gave a van load of stuff to DI.
  
• David wants Amy to move into their room ASAP. Timothy doesn't want her in there, because he doesn't want to hear her cry when they wake her up (his words). Her clothes are already in their dresser.
  

Amy's 4 months old!

Amy had her four month check up today. It was confirmed that she is not growing nearly as fast as the boys.

weight: 14 lbs 11 oz - 75th %
height: 24 1/2 inches - 75th %
head: 42.6 cm - 75-90th %

For comparison - Timothy was off the charts at this age - 19.5 lbs and 26 inches!!!

bottom and top ten

Since I've been doing other things besides blogging I figured the best way to catch up was to do a few lists. So here goes....

Top 10 Christmas gifts
10. The BYU footballs for the boys from my in-laws
9. The little pink shoes - for Amy from David
8. The DVD's for the boys from my parents
7. All the games especially Quiddler - from Tina
6. homemade apron - for me from my MIL
5. homemade hats - for Amy from Aunt Brittany and Aunt Becca
4. homemade haircut cape - for me from Aaron (I've been complaining about the old one for months!)
3. Legos - for the boys from Santa
2. vibrating massager- for me from Timothy (Aaron picked it out)
1. Kitchen aid stand mixer attachments - for me from Aaron

We did make it to Canada (and back). The passport requirement was delayed until this summer (still required for air travel). The trip was pretty good- here's a run down

Bottom 10 things about our Canada trip
10. No college football, just hockey at the restaurant ;)
9. Amy cried for the last hour of the trip home
8. Burger King forgetting to put Aaron's burger in the bag on the way home and us not realizing it until too late to turn around.
7. Waiting at the border for over an hour to get back into the US
6. The kids complaining about everything from dinner, to stopping to eat lunch, to leaving the museum, to waiting for anything.
5. Driving down the scariest part of Vancouver
4. The hotel trying to charge 12% for exchanging currency
3. No banks open to exchange currency (New Years' Day - thank goodness for credit cards)
2. The boys not going to sleep until 10:30 after 2 hours of nagging
1. Amy not sleeping at night - she hated the crib (she woke up 5 times compared to her usual 1)

Top 10 things about the Canada trip
10. Finding this
9.The kids loved having their dinner brought to them in a pirate ship
8. The kids loved having breakfast at the hotel, and I didn't have to fix ten different things to make everyone happy.
7. Being able to Skype with my family and see my little nephew on the web cam.
6. The kids got to touch a snake and a lizard at Science World
5. Buying the Wall-E DVD on the way home as a consolation for not getting any souvenirs.
4. The hotel manager allowing us to stay in one room instead of making us book two rooms - Amy makes us a family of 5 and 4 is the limit allowed per room at most hotels.
3. The kids loved Science World

2. Amy did great on the drive up
1. Finally saying I've been in another country

And lastly top 10 memories of the past week
10. Realizing I still can't eat everything I want. New Year's Eve food didn't sit well in my stomach - it was either the garlic in the Spinach dip or the pineapple in the cranberry salad or both.
9. Learning that in Canada they say washroom instead of restroom or bathroom, and process is pronounced with a long o sound.
8. Snow again on Sunday (almost 2 inches) - but thankfully it turned to rain this morning and it's almost all melted
7. Finally being able to eat chocolate - I went one week without it; a record I think.
6. Playing Cadoo and Yahtzee more times than I can count
5. Amy's debut at a resident function - the New Year's Eve party and Lou and Jim's - where Timothy begged to go home to sleep at 9:30 - we made him stay up until 10:00 - poor kid
4. Eating the gingerbread house on New Year's Eve
3. Having Valerie visit us on New Year's Eve
2. Having Amy finally go to someone other than Aaron or I - thanks Jim.
1. David finally losing his tooth - on Sunday